Closed stance putting?

[cloran]

My body is deformed.

I set up to a putt with what my body + brain believe to be a square stance, but inevitably my right foot is pulled back off the target line and I have a closed stance.

PROOF (from last year, 3rd putt is a great shot of what I'm talking about):


I was listening to Dave Stockton the other day. He remarked about his preference for an open stance vs square... and *GASP* never a closed stance! I was 1/2 listening so I may have missed something, but that was the gist I got.

Well, luckily for me my body sets up closed naturally.

I'm searching for a setup that will allow me to consistently start the ball on my target line. I've been trying all sorts of ball positions, lofts, lie angles, forward presses, open stance (feels very weird, and I usually think I'm going to drill my right foot with the putter head), etc.

I don't think I'll be hitting up a SAMM Putt Lab anytime soon, and I'm in need of direction.

I pulled this quote off the interwebz and it gives me hope as I do keep my shoulders square (I think):

"If open or closed is more comfortable make sure your SHOULDERS STAY SQUARE! Otherwise you will have a very hard time being consistent with your accuracy as your club will be moving sideways as it makes contact with the ball, instead of coming straight up from behind."

[Richie3Jack]

The best putter I ever saw was a guy I used to play in some mini-tour events with. By no exagerration...his stance was as wide as Moe Norman's stance was with the driver. He had a massive forward press....

and a very closed stance.

I used to think his putter or his ball would hit his front foot

The odd thing to me was just how hard he hit the putts. He hit them, quite hard. A flat putt on a 9 stimp green...usually good to hit it 2 feet bye or so. But, he was amazing consistent with his speed.

Anyway, I think one can putt with a closed stance. I don't know why Stockton thinks you can have your shoulders square with an open stance...but, not with a closed stance.

Personally, focus on speed...learn how to green read and find a putter that you can aim pretty well and you'll putt much better over worrying about stroke mechanics.







3JACK

[pavaveda]

Cloran,
I've had this book for a while: The Putting Prescription by Dr. Farnsworth - and every time I tried to read it, I would fall asleep. I picked it up again last week and read the introduction again when I realized that I needed to start at Chapter 4, not Chapter 1. While it's a very dry book, I'm learning a lot about my putting. It was my first thought when I read your post.

I always think of this video when people start putting too much emphasis on foot position:

[Richie3Jack]

The other problem with the 'shoulders square' is that the odds of you having the shoulders square to the target are...not good.

It reminds me of the old days when I was so insistent on having my stance parallel to the target line. Army snipers cannot accurately aim at a target 200 yards away without the proper equipment and they are facing the target. Yet, we expect us to aim ourselves at the target without any equipment and standing parallel to the target line.

It's just a way to worry about something that isn't that important. I think the same applies to having the shoulders square.

I don't think Nicklaus' shoulders were square. I kinda doubt that Crenshaw's were. As I've mentioned before...SAM Puttlab shows Loren Roberts taking a cut-across stroke.

I think the SAM Puttlab is probably at its best 'cleaning up' some things and probably that's best on putts inside 10 feet. Still, I think if you have good speed/touch...you'll start putting better. I think where golfers get it all screwed up (and I was just as guilty) is that they think:

good speed = good stroke mechanics

I don't believe that at all anymore. In fact, I think green reading helps with good speed/touch much more than stroke mechanics.

I heard one of Dave Orr's students say that he believes you really need to be 'OCD about your speed on your putts.'

I like that. And I think if you get a hot day with the putter and pay attention to what your speed is doing...you'll find that your speed was really good that day compared to your other days on the green.






3JACK